CHAPTER 306: CHAPTER 306: TALKS

Chapter 306 – Talks

The woman, Sora, was not the only one.

The dog, too, was one of the paintings Kaden had seen. It was the same dog, the one with an ugly scar that left its left eye blind and white, the wound glowing faintly with a sinister red hue.

Kaden felt a jarring sensation at how the painting and the real dog were completely identical. There was nothing — absolutely nothing — that differentiated the two. He knew, because he had used his perception to compare them in detail.

It was a wonder.

But another wonder was how much the dog seemed to dislike him. Kaden felt genuinely puzzled. He didn’t remember doing anything to this ugly creature, and yet it wouldn’t stop growling at him, showing sharp teeth and letting its tongue hang out in clear threat.

It sat inside a small wooden cottage, resting on a comfortable cushion made of cotton and soft silken fabric. Kaden gave it the food Lady Sora had entrusted to him.

It was a full meal, even with a small dessert on the side. Kaden was stupefied by how well this dog ate.

He clicked his tongue, watching it snarl instead of eating. Ignoring it, he turned away and muttered under his breath,

"Ugly dog."

The dog seemed to hear him, for it growled and ran toward him on short legs, clearly intending to claw him and bite his ass. Kaden sidestepped to the left, dodging with ease, letting the dog’s gaping mouth snap at empty air before it fell face-first onto the ground.

It whimpered, then got up and grunted at him, its white and black eyes locking sharply onto his.

Kaden sneered.

"Stupid and ugly dog," he mocked, before heading back toward Aurora’s chamber with her red chocolates and painting tools, doing his best not to accidentally kill any of her beasts along the way.

It was harder than he thought. There were too many of them, and they were small, weak, and fragile.

Even a touch or a breath from him could kill them easily.

There were worms, flies, and tiny birds flying and slithering around the barren house. At least, Kaden thought, they made the place feel a little less cold and devoid of life.

And these beasts, unlike Lady Sora or the dog, seemed normal with no strange or corrupted aspects about them.

Kaden felt strangely relieved by that, though he thought he’d glimpsed one footless bird among them.

He shook his head, dispelling the eternal parade of thoughts, as he arrived before the stylishly painted door of Aurora’s room.

He raised his hand, knocked twice, and waited.

"Just enter. Why waste time knocking?" Aurora’s impatient voice came from behind the door.

Kaden sighed, gripped the handle, opened it, and stepped inside.

The room hadn’t changed. It was still one worthy of a herd of pigs. And now, with a calmer mind and sharper eyes, Kaden noticed it was the same disorganized room he had seen depicted in one of the paintings before his quest began.

Speculations were slowly forming in his mind, but Kaden set them aside for now, deciding to ponder them later with more care.

He looked at Aurora and found her sitting in front of a blank canvas, her starry eyes distant as she gazed at it.

Her nose had stopped bleeding, though a faint trickle of blood still lingered on it.

It strangely made her look cute, Kaden noticed.

Shaking his head, ’Focus!’ he berated himself.

At her right side, there was a small, empty round table. Kaden guessed that must be where he was meant to place the painting tools and chocolates, so he did.

Noticing his action, Aurora smiled at him. "Fraud," she called softly, "a knight never acts without the order of his master," she intoned.

Her voice was calmer now, more grounded. Kaden found the sudden shift almost jarring.

"Even if the order that’s about to come is obvious?" he retorted.

"Even so," she replied. "That’s how you’re trained. You’re trained to act with orders, and not without." She continued, taking a chocolate bar, unwrapping it, and biting into it like a child.

Her eyes closed in bliss.

"Must be a boring life, being a knight," Kaden said, not bothering to act anymore. He could tell Aurora wouldn’t report anything to Solaris, nor would Lady Sora.

They both seemed strangely pleased by his lack of knightly virtues.

"Exactly!" Aurora said, looking at him, her tone suddenly bright. "Very boring! Very, very boring!"

Then her voice softened. "But that’s how it is," she murmured. "They take away your ability to act without orders. And by doing so, they take away your capacity to think and thus, to decide on your own."

She smiled faintly.

"And if you lose what makes a human human, then you’re no different from a puppet, one that only moves when the puppeteer twitches a finger."

Kaden listened attentively, then smiled. "You don’t seem very fond of how knights are made, my lady."

Aurora shrugged, her starry eyes fixed on the blank board as though imagining her next painting. "Maybe. Maybe not," she said. "I only told you how knights are made."

"I don’t recall ever telling you how I feel about it."

"Sometimes you don’t need to tell for one to know," Kaden replied quietly. "Silence is sometimes louder than words."

Aurora paused, then slowly turned her head to stare at him. "Silence is sometimes louder than words," she echoed, her eyes flashing with brilliant light before she nodded repeatedly, like a child being praised for understanding something important.

"Your words hold truth, Fraud," she said. "You intrigue me. And thus, you make me curious. Tell me, Fraud, how do you find them?"

Kaden frowned instantly, tilting his head slightly in confusion. "Them?" he echoed.

"The housekeeper and my dog," she clarified.

Kaden paused, sensing it might be some kind of test. Yet he couldn’t understand what she truly wanted to hear or what answer she expected from him.

His thoughts spiraled until...

BAM!

Aurora slammed her hand on the table, making everything on it bounce and a few things tumble to the floor. The sharp sound tore through Kaden’s train of thought.

"Too many thoughts, Fraud! Too many thoughts!" Aurora said, irritation clear in her tone at being made to wait.

"Answer my question! What are you thinking so hard about? How do you find them?"

"They are... unique," Kaden replied after a moment. "Lady Sora is calm, peaceful, and warm, like the sun from afar. As for the dog..." he shrugged, "it doesn’t seem to like me very much."

Aurora finally calmed down, and Kaden cursed inwardly.

"You call her Lady Sora? She must have been happy," Aurora said, her voice softening again, calm and almost gentle.

"And my dog doesn’t like you because of your obvious discomfort around it. If you try to see more than its scar, it will like you."

"I wonder what else I could see besides that scar on the dog," Kaden replied instantly, then immediately shut his mouth.

Aurora smiled. "You sound much more honest and less calculating when you answer spontaneously, Fraud."

"And what else can you see?" She turned back toward her board. "Beauty, of course," she said simply. Then, without pause...

"Give me a beast."

"Crow," Kaden answered.

Aurora said nothing more. She calmly finished five chocolate bars, took her painting tools, and began to paint.

Kaden watched, curious and eager to see if she truly was the painter. And if she was, then why did she hold such reverence for flawed and imperfect things?

He focused.

He watched Aurora’s brush glide across the board, strokes slowly shaping into the form of a crow, while from outside came the faint voice of someone singing.

It was oddly peaceful and yet...

Kaden’s heart and mind were not at ease.

...

"Looking at me like that will not change what’s already done," Mahina said, noticing the anger radiating from her daughter like steam rising from a hot meal.

They sat at a dinner table carved from golden wood, harvested from the Forest of Eternal Sunshine. It was only the two of them — mother and daughter — facing each other with plates of steaming food before them. For Sora, a cup of honeyed milk, for Mahina, a cup of coffee with a strong, bitter scent.

Neither Luminary nor Sirius were present. One too busy holding the Empire together, the other too busy plotting to take it from his father.

"Why?" Sora asked for the nth time.

"My daughter," Mahina said, her voice calm, "shouldn’t I be the one asking you why?" She tilted her head slightly.

"Why are you so fixated on the boy?"

Sora’s face twisted with irritation. "I am not fixated on him! What makes you even think that?! I just want to keep my word!" she growled, her fists clenched tight.

Her incandescent eyes locked onto Mahina’s calm blue ones. "You know us, Mother," she said through gritted teeth. "The words of a Sun cannot be broken and yet, you’re making me break one."

Mahina was simply looking at her with a calm gaze, sipping her coffee slowly, savoring it, even. "I do know you. My husband is the Sun, after all, and he has never failed his word. But do you know why?"

She asked, but didn’t wait for an answer.

"Because your father is strong, Sora," she said, voice colder now. "He can impose his will and get away with it without any issue."

"And I hate to disappoint you, daughter," she added with a small shrug, "but you are not that strong yet."

Sora’s golden eyes began to slowly rotate inside their sockets, a clear sign of her anger. "Yet," she muttered. "You said it, Mother. I might not be now, but I certainly will."

Mahina grinned. "Are you threatening your mother? All of that for a boy who called you Golden Voice? Are you that easy?"

Sora’s eyes widened, then her whole face flushed red in an instant, as if blood had been poured over it. Words failed her for a moment before she shook her head, taking back control over her emotions.

"How do you know this?" she hissed.

"That’s a stupid question," Mahina said flatly. "That is why you won’t win against your brother."

Sora’s eyes immediately blazed, anger dripping from her gaze. "You don’t need to rub it in my face. You don’t need to show me that he is your favorite," she snapped.

"I am only telling you what all of us know, Sora," Mahina’s voice was cold. "Having your mythical artifact will not help you win against Sirius." she insisted.

"Do you think you know your brother?" She shook her head. "Do you really think you have seen all he is capable of?"

"It doesn’t matter," Sora snarled. "He doesn’t know me either. Even you, Mother, have no idea what I am capable of."

Mahina shook her head. "The beliefs of an ignorant are ever so entertaining."

"I will show you who is the biggest ignorant," Sora retorted, then stood up from her chair. "Kaden, Mother, better be in good health with no speck of injuries on his body." She threatened her mother openly.

Mahina’s smile turned cold and lifeless. "Sora." she intoned, and instantly Sora froze, her head ducking down as she kissed the table, face-first into her untouched plate of food.

A splash of food smeared the golden table.

"I have humored you, but one must have the awareness to know when to stop." Her voice made the inside of Sora freeze, her throat went dry, her eyes clouded by a thick darkness. "I am your mother, and you will treat me as such."

"Now, go on with your belief that you can win against your brother. But know this, you will bear the consequences of all of your actions."

She paused, then slowly stood up from her chair.

"As for your lover," her voice grew colder, "he will either come out and save you from your inevitable suffering, or..."

She left the rest of the sentence hanging as she walked out of the dining room, her voice echoing behind her.

"And ah, don’t forget to wash your face, darling."

Then she disappeared.

Sora gritted her teeth, her face still pressed into the plate. Anger and shame boiled inside her heart and veins like poison, and yet, her mind lingered on the last, unfinished words of her mother.

She bit her lip, eyes shimmering with searing wrath but also fear...a deep, consuming fear that threatened to hollow her out, to leave her nothing but a husk of her former self.

She clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging into her palms until golden blood spilled out.

"Blackmailer..." she whispered.

—End of Chapter 306—